As Katherine Beattie straps herself into her custom-made wheelchair, and Oscar Loreto slips his left leg into the carbon fiber shell that connects to his prosthetic foot, the challenges that the two have faced throughout their lives are apparent.

Living with a disability can be a struggle, and neither Beattie nor Loreto are afraid to admit their own challenges growing up. But, as Beattie puts on her helmet and pushes her chair down into a bowl, and Loreto launches his skateboard off a flight of stairs, slamming to a stop at the bottom, their disabilities are an afterthought.

Beattie and Loreto are regulars at their local skateparks. Between busy jobs in television production and the challenges that simply come with everyday life, both take any and every opportunity that they can get to drop into a bowl at the Venice Skatepark, to hop down a flight of stairs, to cruise down the street.

They are a pair of typical skaters, a couple of easy-going, Southern California raised kids, eager to spend a day on their wheels.

About the back flip

In the sport of wheelchair motocross (WCMX), the holy grail of tricks is landing a back flip. It takes all of the skill and courage of the rider to flip themselves off a quarterpipe and land sitting straight up. It’s the trick that Beattie dreamed of sticking when she first got a wheelchair about 2 1/2 years ago.

In April, after countless times attempting the trick into the safety of a foam pit, Beattie became the first women to ever land a back flip in a wheelchair.

In her short time competing in WCMX, Beattie has become not only the best female competitor in the sport, but one of the most respected riders overall. She has been invited to ride in top competitions, holding her own against her male counterparts.

Her current success sits in stark contrast to where she was almost 16 years ago, when complications with cerebral palsy (CP) forced her to give up the sport she loved.

Raised in La Cañada, Beattie was diagnosed with CP as a toddler, after it was noticed that she wasn’t reaching developmental milestones as quickly as her twin sister. Despite weakness and stiffness in her legs, Beattie’s case was mild enough to allow her to walk, and she was able to play sports.

At the age of 10, she discovered and fell in love with the sport of skateboarding.

One day, Beattie’s twin sister asked her father if he could buy her a skateboard, and Beattie went along as they headed to a local skate shop. To the surprise of her mother, when the three returned home, Beattie had a skateboard of her own as well.

When her mother asked if Beattie could ride it, her father said yes.

“But I totally couldn’t. So I had to learn really quick,” Beattie said.

Beattie only had the chance to skate for three years before complications with an operation to lengthen her hamstrings, left her with little strength left in her legs.

After the operation, Beattie no longer had the stamina to stand on her skateboard, and she gave up the sport. She decided to give her skateboard away when an acquaintance asked if she had an extra.

“I just gave him my skateboard, because I was like, ‘Well, this just isn’t going to work anymore,’” she said. “For years after that, I would hear a skateboard coming down the sidewalk, and I would turn and stop what I was doing, like I would have to watch this dude and whatever he was going to do.”

Beattie, who studied film and television writing at Texas Christian University, didn’t think about the possibility of skating again until college. While she was working on the “Ellen Degeneres Show”, she saw a picture of Amy Purdy, a double amputee and world-class snowboarder, riding on a skateboard in an advertisement and immediately tried to contact her.

“I was like, if she can skateboard, I can probably figure out a way to skateboard. And I actually never got in contact with her, but it put it in my mind that it was a possibility.”

Beattie, who is now 29, bought a board about 3 1/2 years ago, and started going to the Venice Beach Skatepark in the mornings before work. She would ride the board on her knees, flying around the bowls among the local skaters.

About a year later, she was introduced to WCMX, a sport that’s like a cross between skating and BMX.

While some of the people around her were viewing the wheelchair as a setback, Beattie was already envisioning the new range of tricks that her chair would make possible.

“It’s like getting to ride a bike all the time. Being a kid and loving action sports like BMX, I would have loved to get to ride my bike in the house. ”

Over the last two years, Beattie has become one of the best WCMX competitors in the country. In late April of this year, she was the only woman among the 13 riders invited to compete in the WCMX World Championships in Austin, Texas. She finished ninth overall.

“I think if we can get more girls, and more people in general, involved in adaptive skating, then I’ll just become one of the pack, which is fine, totally fine with me.”

Beattie, who works as a script coordinator for NCIS: New Orleans, is dedicated it to growing her sport and volunteers her time with organizations like Life Rolls On, which uses action sports to improve the quality of life for people with paralysis.

“I don’t want [the sport] to reach a plateau, I just want it to keep getting bigger.”

Going all-out

Loreto broke so many prosthetic feet as a young skater, his prosthetist was no longer surprised when he would show up with a cracked foot. Actually, his doctor loved the fact that Loreto was skating hard enough to break the strongest prosthetic available.

“That was the only issue, breaking the feet, but luckily they’re always under warranty, so the foot company would always send another one,” he said.

While Loreto, 29, is not as reckless on a skateboard as he once was, he still draws eyes every time that he goes to the skatepark. Those looks come as he expertly glides on his skateboard, ollieing stairs and easily grinding a rail. The looks also go to his hands, where Loreto is missing all but one finger, the thumb on his right hand. Loreto is also missing his left foot and wears a carbon fiber prosthetic leg that covers his leg to the knee, but it’s impossible to notice when he’s wearing pants. Even when he’s wearing shorts, it takes a trained eye to spot anything different.

Loreto, a Downey native, was born with the missing appendages after the umbilical cord wrapped around his limbs in the womb, stunting their growth.

He discovered skateboarding at the age of 14, when an older cousin brought a board to a family party. A little more than a year later, he had his own skateboard and had fallen in love with every aspect of the sport.

Part of this love for skating, he says, comes from the inherent level of respect in the skating community. No matter the skill level of the skater, they are almost universally supported by their fellow skaters.

This wasn’t always the case for Loreto when it came to more traditional sports.

“I love traditional sports, but it was a cliche, I always got picked last,” Loreto said. “No one wanted me on their basketball team because they thought I’d airball or couldn’t dribble, which is not the case, I can ball some fools up.

“But, yeah, the skatepark was just, I don’t know, the camaraderie and community of skateboarders is just an unwritten law.”

While his family and friends were always supportive of him growing up, there were times when dealing with his disability was still difficult. Often, he would wear pants to cover his prosthetic and keep his hands hidden in his pockets.

Loreto’s confidence increased along with his skill as a skater. He recently finished second in the adaptive skating competition at the 2015 WCMX World Championships and skated at the X Games four times before the event was canceled after 2010 — and now he proudly displays his prosthetic, the foam covering beat up and torn after countless falls.

As Loreto has become a major name in adaptive skating, or skating for individuals with disabilities, he has had the chance to travel around the country for competitions and clinics. In 2010, he was one of a handful of adaptive skaters to perform at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.

He has also become a source of inspiration for the next generation of adaptive skaters. Loreto said that he was at first scared of being a mentor, but as he’s matured — he is now a husband and the father of two young kids — he understands the impact he can make.

“I get humbled when I get an email like ‘Hey, my son just got amputated and he saw your video. Can you come out and teach him how to ollie?’ “ he said.

Loreto admits that the time commitment between his family and job as an editor for Time Warner Cable Deportes can make being a spokesman for adaptive skateboarding difficult. However, he is committed to supporting the sport that has meant so much to him.

“To me, right now, it’s just about giving back.”

Leaders of sport

On Saturday, the same day that competition begins at the Special Olympics hosted in Los Angeles, Beattie and Loreto will be competing in “They Will Skate Again”, an adaptive skating workshop, pro skating exhibition and adaptive skating competition organized by Life Rolls On.

The event will take place at the Venice Skatepark from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For both Beattie and Loreto, events like this are an important stepping stone toward a shared goal, seeing a day when they no longer have to be at the forefront of the adaptive skating movement.

Currently, the total number of adaptive skaters is small, but the sport has seen a boost in popularity over the last few years.

Carolyn Odom, Director of Programs for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), an organization that provides grants for things like equipment, training, and travel fees, said that wheelchairs designed for skating can reach prices over $10,000, out of the reach of most disabled individuals looking to compete in the sport.

In 2013, only two people received CAF grants for these special wheelchairs. However, around 25 wheelchair grants have been given so far this year, including one for the chair Beattie is currently using.

“Still not huge numbers. In comparison, I think we gave out over 200 basketball chairs this year,” Odom said. “So, all things considered, they’re not crazy numbers, but the growth over the last few years has been really impressive.”

Loreto also skates as a team member for an organization called Adaptive Action Sports, an organization dedicated to adaptive skating and snowboarding. Loreto’s role with the organization is outreach and making adaptive skating more visible.

His hope is that adaptive skating will make a return to the X Games and, one day, be on the schedule for the Paralympic Games.

However, for Beattie and Loreto, their goals extend beyond seeing elite skaters at big competitions. They will only be satisfied when as many disabled individuals possible have the same opportunities as them.

“I don’t know if it’s ever going to be where I wanted it to be,” Beattie said. “I want to show up at a skatepark and see adaptive skaters like just random people.”